The Puerto Rican government acknowledged Thursday that the death toll from Hurricane Maria was more than 1,400 – an estimate many times higher than the official count it has clung to for months.

In a draft report to Congress posted online, the government said the revised number of deaths should be 1,427, based on public health records. It said 527,000 homeowners reported damage to their homes and about 40 schools permanently closed because of structural damage from the storm.

“Although the official death count from the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety was initially 64, the toll appears to be much higher,” the report said.

The 411-page document, titled “Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation: An Economic and Disaster Recovery Plan for Puerto Rico,” laid out the government's recovery plans and estimated it will need about $125 billion over the next decade to rebuild. About $35 billion in federal disaster recovery money has been allocated for Puerto Rico.

The new death toll estimate places Maria in the category of historic deadly hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina, which claimed 1,800 lives after slamming into the Gulf Coast in 2005, said George Haddow, a senior fellow at Tulane University’s Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy and a former senior official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Clinton administration.

The higher death count is key to rebuilding Puerto Rico to stand against powerful storms, he said.

“The number of people who died and how they died should play a role in how they rebuild," Haddow said.

The Puerto Rican government was criticized for underplaying the number of deaths from the Category 4 storm, which cut through the middle of the island Sept. 20, 2017, causing widespread destruction and plunging the island into a months-long blackout.

A New York Times analysis of island records estimated the death toll at about 1,052. In May, a Harvard University study estimated that 800 to 8,500 people died because of Hurricane Maria.

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Damaged homes and trees stripped of their leaves are seen throughout Yabucoa, Puerto Rico on Oct. 2, 2017, eleven days after Hurricane Maria struck the island. Yabucoa bore the strongest brunt of the storm before it weakened somewhat over Puerto Rico's mountainous terrain. Wind gusts here weren't accurately measured because the storm destroyed local radar stations, but at least three tornadoes were observed around Yabucoa, said Gabriel Lojero, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service San Juan. Ricky Flores & Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY NETWORK

"I'm not well. I'm nervous," Irma Torres, 75 said on Feb. 28, 2018. "I don't sleep. I'm afraid that we get another storm and I end up drowned at sea." Her small home sits on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. Yabucoa bore the strongest brunt of the storm before it weakened somewhat over Puerto Ricoís mountainous terrain. Maria tore off part of her roof and pushed the sea right up to her kitchen window. The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran (Via OlyDrop) Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY

The long, dark nights have been wearing on Irma Torres, 75. With only a wall to her back and a short, steep drop separating her from the Caribbean Sea, she sits with her granddaughter Sol Fernandez, 17 with a solar-powered light on Feb. 28, 2018. Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY

As dusk sets in on Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Junior Martinez visits his neighbors, who are also his family members. His uncle, Rafael Martinez, lives in this house, where Hurricane Maria lifted and curled the cement and rebar-enforced roof. Nearly six months after the category four hurricane hit, they, like the majority of the city, are still without power on Feb. 28, 2018. Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY

Solar cells charge outside of Sol Fernandez's home in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico on Feb. 28, 2018, near the spot where Sol and her mom, Yasmin Morales, slept on the ground for five days right after Hurricane Maria tore their roof off. Small animals and spiders bit them as they slept, Sol said. Hurricane Maria first made landfall in this city of 37,000, where, nearly six months after the category four hurricane hit, electricity has returned to only 35% of its residents. Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY

Cars pass leaning and mangled wires and electrical posts in Yabucoa on Feb. 28, 2018, nearly six months after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. Only 35% of the city, which is where Maria first made landfall, has power. Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY

Ramona Ramos stands in her Yabucoa home, which she is rebuilding on Feb. 28, 2018. She rode out Hurricane Maria at her sister's house, but returned to find only her bathroom standing. The building process has been slow as labor and materials are expensive and hard to find. She's relying on her nephew to do most of the work. Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY

"It's a new life for me. Everyone left," said Lucy Diaz Matos, living under a makeshift roof and without power in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico on Feb. 28, 2018. She said her husband and the majority of her neighbors have moved away. Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY

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Gov. Ricardo Rossello acknowledged that the official count of 64 was probably low but hesitated to confirm a higher count until further studies were completed. The government commissioned George Washington University to conduct a more thorough study, due for release this month.

Besides those who were killed in the storm, scores of others died when they weren’t able to access hospitals over impassable roads, couldn’t plug in dialysis machines when the island went dark or couldn't cope with the stress after the storm.

The low official death count sparked protests in San Juan and hindered the island's recovery. This year, Puerto Ricans laid thousands of pairs of shoes outside the island’s Capitol building to represent the uncounted dead.

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Jesus M. Montijo poses with his son Damian Kaleb, 1, in the shelter for Hurricane Maria victims where they currently reside, in front of the shelter's Christmas tree on Christmas day, Dec. 25, 2017 in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. He said their home was destroyed by Hurricane Maria and they have been forced to live in shelters ever since. Around 600 Hurricane Maria victims remain in shelters across Puerto Rico. Barely three months after Hurricane Maria made landfall, approximately one-third of the devastated island is still without electricity. While the official death toll from the massive storm remains at 64, The New York Times recently reported the actual toll for the storm and its aftermath likely stands at more than 1,000. A recount was ordered by the governor as the holiday season approached. Mario Tama, Getty Images

A car battery connected to an inverter and a generator provide power for a makeshift street party, on a block without grid electricity, on Christmas Eve in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. Mario Tama, Getty Images

Faithful gather following 'midnight mass' at the Nuestra Senora Del Carmen Church on Christmas Eve on Dec. 24, 2017 in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. The mass finished well before midnight this year to accomodate those who live in areas without electricity. The church ran the mass with a generator. Mario Tama, Getty Images

Wilmarie González Rivera prepares her children, Jaiden, Melanie and Yeinelis Oliveras González, to attend a Christmas party at their school in Morovis, Puerto Rico on Dec. 22, 2017. Their father Jose Luis Gonzalez pieced the roof himself. FEMA has not given them any assistance. Carlos Giusti, AP

Inocencia Rivera, mother of Eduardo Gonzalez, a man who committed suicide three weeks after the passage of Hurricane Maria, receives the night in her balcony, surrounded by small, solar powered Christmas lights and a Puerto Rico flag, in Morovis, Puerto Rico on Dec. 21, 2017. Government officials say they are counting some suicides as part of the official death toll because people across Puerto Rico have become so desperate in post-hurricane conditions. Carlos Giusti, AP

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How to classify hurricane-related deaths has been debated since the storm struck 10 months ago. Two bills were introduced in Congress in June in an attempt to establish a standard for counting deaths after a natural disaster.

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Modesto Cepeda stands on the patio of his house, which still sits uninhabited seven weeks after it was damaged by Hurricane Maria. He visits the home at least once a week for an hour or so. Jasper Colt, USA TODAY

Some of the many barriles de bomba  traditional drums used in bomba music  used in the Centro Cultural de Bomba y Plena, a school in the Villa Palmeras neighborhood of San Juan. Jasper Colt, USA TODAY

Gladys Cámara on the patio at Centro Cultural de Bomba y Plena, her family's school in the Villa Palmeras neighborhood of San Juan that teaches traditional Puerto Rican dance and percussion. Jasper Colt, USA TODAY